Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021

Before you is the tournament book of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021. The

event that has been won in sensational fashion by the young Dutch grandmaster

Jorden van Foreest. In a tiebreak in the third blitz game, he was just a bit faster of

his compatriot Anish Giri. The barrage was necessary because both players very

surprisingly ended with the wonderful score of 8½ out of 13 in joint first place. With

this they had left behind, among others, World Champion Magnus Carlsen (7½) and

the number two in the world, Fabiano Caruana (8). An unprecedented achievement, because the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is sometimes called the "Wimbledon of chess" of the elite tournaments. After the last round, in which Van Foreest in a formidable way had left the Swede Nils Grandelius chanceless, it was waiting

for the game between the Spaniard David Antón Guijarra and Anish Giri. Our

compatriot was in a bad position, lost perhaps, but he managed to free himself from

the tangled position and gain an important half point. It was decided beforehand

that a tiebreak would be held, consisting of at least two blitz games. Should these

result in a 1-1 score, an Armageddon game would be played. This turned out to be

a nervous and blood-curdling fight, with the pieces flying around. In the end the

younger OF the two, Jorden van Foreest, emerged victorious and thus the young

Groninger booked the greatest success of his still young career. Apart from the

commotion in the Dutch seaside resort of Wijk aan Zee, where the tournament was

held – under strict corona rules – the whole of the Netherlands rose to its feet when

this great result became known. Hadn't we had to wait since 1985, when Jan

Timman won the Hoogovens chess tournament, for a Dutch chess player to stand

on the highest podium? And now it was even two players from this country who

could dispute together who would take the highest honor